Comment by burnt-resistor

Too many people dismissed Kurzweil as a crank. He was mostly and sort of correct, but couldn't possibly anticipate the scale, scope, (or hype), or timeline that is still unfolding.

Furthermore, people involved in tech often reflexively dismissed this nearing iteration/revolution because their lifestyles, finances, and identities often revolved around a form of employment that would gradually and eventually be replaced (on a long enough time horizon) with significant automation, leaving far fewer involved with it. And also shrinking/disappearing incomes of millions of people who had previously attained a middle- or middle-upper-income lifestyle that would be captured by billionaires. AI is the computer equivalent of the cotton gin or cigarette rolling machine.